Female Twitter employees sue company saying they disproportionately targeted women in mass sackings of staff

8 December 2022, 19:51

Twitter is facing a lawsuit stemming from the recent purge of half its full-time staff accuses the firm of disproportionately targeting female employees in the round of mass sackings.

A class action, which was filed late on Wednesday in San Francisco federal court said that after the company was taken over by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, 57% of its female workers were laid off compared to 47% of men, Reuters reported.

Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees early last month in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, and hundreds more subsequently resigned.

In engineering roles, the gender disparity was more stark, with 63% of women losing their jobs compared to 48% of men, according to the new lawsuit.

The lawsuit, which was filed by two women laid off by the company last month accuses it of violating federal and California laws banning workplace sex discrimination.

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Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said women "had targets on their backs" once Mr Musk acquired the company for $44billion in October, regardless of their talent and contributions.

Ms Liss-Riordan, known for her class action suits against companies like Starbucks and Uber, represents current and ex employees of the US company in three other pending lawsuits filed in the same court since November.

Those cases include various claims, including that Twitter laid off employees and contractors without the advance notice required by law and failed to pay promised severance, and that Mr Musk forced out workers with disabilities by refusing to allow remote working and calling on workers to be more "hardcore."

At least three workers have separately filed complaints against the company, with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board claiming they faced retaliation for advocating for better working conditions.

Twitter has denied wrongdoing in the lawsuit involving advance notice, and has not responded to the other complaints.